FRANCE: NORWAY are forced to wait for their first FIFA World Cup ticket since 1988 after Italy struck late in Moldova on Thursday.
Despite romping to an Erling Haaland-inspired 4-1 win over Estonia, Norway will also have to wait until the final matchday to wrap up their berth at the World Cup.
Forwards Alexander Sorloth and Haaland both netted doubles in the space of 12 second-half minutes earlier in Oslo, but the Norwegians had to wait on Italy’s later match against Moldova before they could be certain of topping Group I.
The Moldovans looked to have done enough to send Stale Solbakken’s side to the finals, until Gianluca Mancini struck on 88 minutes to send Italy on the way to a victory that kept their automatic qualification hopes alive.
Inter Milan forward Pio Esposito doubled Italy’s lead in injury time to ensure Sunday’s meeting between the Italians and Norway at the San Siro will be a blockbuster.
Three points separate the pair but Norway hold an imposing head-to-head record over Italy after cruising to a 3-0 win in their encounter in June.
“It wasn’t easy… We also knew that Norway had won, so it was a bit of a strange atmosphere,” Sandro Tonali told Sky Sport Italia.
In Group K, already-qualified England beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley courtesy of goals by Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze, while Albania edged Andorra 1-0 to sew up second spot. – AFP
